Ripinieki 6 - 0 Wizards (381505186)

Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 52124 at Stadium Essential today. Piotr Tuleja was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Pavel Husák and Philippe Pandolfi. Ripinieki had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. They fielded: Erkek - Bobrovich, Font, Tranmar - Barda, Soinne, Neuville, Noval, Baltà - Olkhovik, Tulupov.

Wizards tactics involved an interesting 2-5-3 combination. Starters: Virkamäki - Velloso, Arizti - Mucip, Torander, Lomotă, Sperk, Sardena - Pozytywny, Chúa, Gallagher.

After 15 minutes, S. Olkhovik came in from the right, feinted, then sped past the off-balance defender to make the score 1 - 0, giving Ripinieki the lead. Ripinieki's L. Tranmar increased the lead to 2 - 0, after he saw his shot go between the legs of the advancing goalkeeper following some good play down the right wing after 16 minutes. 21 minutes into the match, a typically brave header by I. Tulupov from Y. Barda's cross looped just over the opposing goalkeeper's desperate reach. Goal for Ripinieki, making the score 3 - 0. After this, you could see that the players of Ripinieki were more interested in killing time than scoring more goals. A magnificent combination in the middle resulted in Ripinieki's Y. Barda increasing the lead to 4 - 0. The cannonball from 35 metres by G. Neuville of Ripinieki was an impressive sight, but didn't make it into the net. The teams went for the halftime break at 4 - 0. Ripinieki claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 82 percent.

After 58 minutes, the away team failed to deal with a good exchange of passes on the right, and S. Olkhovik gave the Ripinieki supporters even more to cheer about when he increased the lead to 5 - 0. The crowd was amused as B. Gallagher of Wizards used a few interesting tricks and dribbles to get into the penalty box. The finish by G. Sardena wasn't very amusing, however, as the ball flew way over the crossbar. L. Tranmar unleashed a swerving effort from the right that the visitors' keeper did well to tip wide. Ripinieki solidified their lead at the 85 minute mark, as B. Font dribbled the ball through the opposing central defence and scored to make it 6 - 0. 86 minutes into the match, F. Noval could have extended the lead, but his powerful free kick went just over the bar. Ripinieki enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 85 percent of possession.

The most dominating Ripinieki player was without a doubt S. Olkhovik. On the other hand, F. Baltà's play was disheartening. Wizards's best player was S. Velloso. M. Sperk turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 6 - 0.